Saidu Escapes the Wrath of Forceful Initiation of ‘Poro Society’

By Alpha Sesay

Reliable source informed this writer that Saidu Conteh, a boy aged 15, narrowly escaped forced initiation into the Poro society when he visited his family in Masongbo village in the northern part of Sierra Leone.

According to one local farmer in the village, who chose to be anonymous, narrated that Saidu’s father Pa Ibrahim III is the supreme head of the society who has been battling with his health lately, a reason why his son was eyed to replace his father to complete the hierarchical structure of the traditional rite.

He further narrated that one faithful morning, Pa Ibrahim III insisted that his son should escort him to the farm to witness his routine symbolic harvest of his groundnut farm. Upon their arrival, his son was snatched away from his and his face was covered with a red cloth as he was dragged to the bush to undergo the kanta ceremony, a process one transition into a bonafide member of the Poro society.

In a twinkle of an eye he was reportedly missing, neither the initiators nor his family members knows his whereabouts, despite they told his father he nervously fled the scene.

He has been at large since October 2018, the matter was later reported to the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and all efforts have proven futile to locate him.

Few believed he could have died along the way as no one dare to boycott the Poro society.